


Human Decency

by Maztermo



Category: Danganronpa, super danganronpa 2: goodbye despair
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Fluff, Just two idiot boys, Kissing, M/M, Nagito gets hurt whoops, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 15:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18803197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maztermo/pseuds/Maztermo
Summary: "Perhaps it was something akin to pity, perhaps it was something less shallow than that but whatever the case, Hajime found himself crouching beside Nagito."After finding Nagito down on his luck and slightly injured, Hajime takes him to the nurse's office to fix him up. It's very clear that things are getting awkward and tense but Hajime refuses to accept it.It's just human decency, after all. Right?





	Human Decency

He’d heard a shout from a little away from the path. As soon as he’d heard it, Hajime rushed over to the sound and only just seen the aftermath of someone falling down the small hill beside the footpath. Lots of dirt and rocks, barely any trees to filter out the sun shining onto them.

Face down on the ground was mop with arms and legs sprawled comically beside its figure. Maybe that wasn’t fair to say though, the poor guy was just probably going about his day in the unusual manner he probably did and fell. Poor guy was too sympathetic, maybe. There was a lot of maybe as he stood and just watched. He wondered if he had really just given up and laid there asleep.

Perhaps it was something akin to pity, perhaps it was something less shallow than that but whatever the case, Hajime found himself crouching beside Nagito.

“Are you alright?” he asked, despite knowing the consequences for asking him anything.

Nagito didn’t speak. He slowly shifted his arms around beside his chest in an attempt to push himself up. Hajime watched as he put his hand right onto a sharp rock and cringed as he pushed onto it, more so when Nagito stiffened, dropped and then flailed his wrist about. There was blood splattering around on the dirt as he flicked his hand. 

He finally managed to tuck his knees to his chest and sit up. It was slow but he got there in the end. Through it all, he still smiled gently. Even if his face was partially bruised.

“Forgive me for making you stop and look at trash like me. I’ll heal, just in a bit.”

“That wasn’t what I asked,” Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Ah, right,” Nagito looked down at his bleeding palm, “Well, it’s just a little blood so I’ll be fine.”

Hajime sighed in frustration. “I meant about the fall, did you hurt yourself from the fall?”

“Oh! That’s what you were worried about. My knees might be a little grazed and I may have hurt my chin but I am pretty much fine. It’s not like I haven’t been through worse.” His smile shifted to a grimace as he tried to stand up. He leaned on his knees and winced as he shuffled one leg forward to step up.

 

Hajime stood up, offering a hand down to Nagito. Nagito stared at him for a bit, then took his hand with his own. Hajime pulled him up, not cleanly but still up. Nagito stumbled a little even with Hajime’s support. They held on for maybe a little too long. Hajime had noticed that his hand was now slightly wet.

“Ah, sorry,” Nagito brought his hand back to his chest, “I didn’t mean to use that one.”

Hajime turned his supporting hand over. That was the bloody hand. It wasn’t a lot of blood but it was still a little gross.

“How disgusting, I’ve wasted your time and stained your skin. I’m terribly sorry for-”

“It’s not  _ that  _ gross. And you’re not wasting my time if you need help.”

“But I could have easily recovered on my own. Had you not taken pity on my wretched state then you wouldn’t’ve gotten blood on your hand.”

Hajime flicked his hand and wiped the blood onto his jeans. He’d wash them later anyway, sitting on the ground at break times already made them dirty anyway. 

He noticed how Nagito continued to flick his wrist around, biting at his lip and sucking in air between the small gap. After getting too much attention, he just slapped his hand onto his coat and pushed it into the fabric.

 

Hajime sighed, “Give it here.”

He leaned forward and took Nagito’s hurt hand and brought the wound closer to his face to investigate. There were a couple of bits of soil around the cut but he’d already flicked most of them off. He wiped off the remaining bits with his thumb, careful not to pull too much at the skin or touch the cut. 

The cut wasn’t that big lengthways but it was clearly deep enough to continue to hurt and bleed all over the place. He wondered how such a small rock had caused such a deep cut. Maybe Nagito had really put all of his weight onto it, maybe it was just a really sharp rock. Either way, it probably needed to be looked at more deeply than a regular cut.

“Are you... really worried about me?” Nagito’s tone was strangely more stressed out than usual. Out of the corner of Hajime’s eye, he noticed that Nagito was staring right at him. 

Now that he looked harder, he’d also noticed the bruising on his chin was starting to drip blood as well. He took Nagito’s wrist as gently as he could.

“Come on, let’s get you fixed up.” he sighed and pulled Nagito along with him. He tried to ignore the rambling that came after.

 

By some weird luck cycle phenomenon (according to Nagito at least), Mikan appeared to be out of the nurse’s office at that time. She left the door unlocked but everything with chemicals was kept locked. Strangely enough, not the antiseptic though. Hajime said coincidence, Nagito blamed luck.  

The two sat at a table near the computer which Hajime guessed had files about student sick days and whatever it was Mikan got up to while checking on patients. He told Nagito to go wash off the blood in the sink, which he did rather quickly.

As he was walking away from the desk, Hajime had noticed that there was a baseball bat under the table. He couldn’t place why exactly it would be there but it was probably best not to question the school with both an Ultimate Nurse and an Ultimate Baseball Star. Not that he knew who the Baseball Star was, being in different classes and all. He had briefly thought about meeting them with them being a celebrity and all but he had also considered that to be selfish within his own private debate.

Hajime took out the bandage roll from the cupboard along with a safety pin from the desk drawer, some antiseptic from the one open cupboard in the whole room, cotton balls and a packet of bandaids and met Nagito back at the desk. He cringed at the squeak his chair made while pulling it forward.

“Hold still, this might sting a bit,” he warned, dripping the antiseptic onto the cotton ball.

Truth be told, he didn’t have a clue what he was doing but it felt like it was the right thing to do. Nagito nodded, putting his full faith into him without much reason to. 

Hajime turned Nagito’s palm up and laid it flat against the desk, slowly letting the cotton ball descend onto the cut. There was a small flinch with contact but Nagito slowly relaxed into it. He was uncharacteristically quiet, the only real sound he made was the slow breathing through his nose as he stared at his open palm. 

 

Hajime didn’t pay much attention to people like Nagito, probably due to the fact that everyone was actively trying to ignore him and yet, there was something interesting to be said about his palms. The x patterned lines stretching from end to end that looked like barbed wires and the more faint ones starting and stopping at seemingly random places. How the tips of his fingers were slightly more pink than first and second bits split up into sections. 

As one of Nagito’s fingers twitched up, he’d noticed the slight vein that bulged out. They were like blue branches as Nagito grew more bored and twiddled them up and down, up and down. Some fingers would show more bulging than others as they moved around. There was also the fact that the back of his hand was more tanned than the palms. 

 

As he dabbed the cotton on, he quickly glanced back at his own hand. More pink palms, slightly less veiny too.

The office was getting far too quiet for Hajime’s liking.

 

“Does it still hurt?” he asked, breaking the silence. There was a sense of anxiety as soon as he heard his voice but he tried to push it down in favour of not screwing up.

Nagito slightly shook his head. “Not really. It’s just cold.”

Hajime nodded, “Good.”

Nagito continued to stare down at his hand as Hajime decided that he had probably spent enough time on it. He couldn’t tell, of course. He just went with the flow of it. He let go of Nagito’s hand and for a second, he swore he saw Nagito’s fingers twitch after him. He wondered if he was just imagining it as he tossed the cotton ball to the nearest bin and began to unwind the bandage roll. He took Nagito’s hand and raised it up, letting him place his own underneath for support. He placed the start of the bandage roll across his palm and started to wind it around his hand.

“Thank you,” Nagito muttered.

“Don’t mention it,” Hajime said, perhaps a little too quickly.

“It’s kind of funny, actually,” he started but then something flashed onto his face, “Ah, you shouldn’t have to care more than you need to.”

Hajime looked up, blinking with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I was about to delve into something that would make you pity me, causing unnecessary despair when-”

“Shut up about that,” Hajime interrupted, burying his head in his own shoulder and holding the roll still. 

“Hm?”

“Look, you can talk about whatever but you don’t have to pretend you know what I’m thinking or feeling. I want to know what you’re thinking about, no pity attached. Or hope or despair or whatever.”

Nagito stared right into Hajime’s eyes, something along the lines of sincere shock across his face but mixed with something indescribably soft. A sort of happy surprise one might find in an orphan who just got told they were adopted. 

Of course, Hajime had never really seen this kind of expression before so his confusion only continued as he began to dwell on that comparison. 

He stopped himself from staring for too long and continued to wind the bandage.

 

After a while, Nagito finally cleared his throat. “Well, this morning consisted of me running into an angry dog, getting every red light for pedestrian crossings, bumping into a man who stole my wallet and then getting pushed by a small child down a hill and landing on my face. It was just one long stroke of bad luck, one after another all in the span of like, two hours. Of course, that’s not mentioning the smaller things like that my power also just happened to go out so I woke up late and couldn’t have a warm shower. I just seemed to be having the worst luck today.”

 

Hajime had to scream at himself to not to stare for too long or ponder why he sounded so calm while talking about his own misery as he tore off the end of the bandage roll with a nearby pair of scissors. He tucked the end into an opening at the bottom of Nagito’s palm and secured it in place with the safety pin. 

He looked at the bandaging again and realised he’d probably gone overboard and wrapped him in too many layers. He let Nagito open and close his hand as he reached for the packet of bandaids, another cotton ball and the antiseptic.

 

“I figured that this horrible bad luck would only mean incredible good luck is to come later and yet, I have my doubts.” 

“What makes you say that?” Hajime asked, dripping antiseptic onto the cotton again.

“Firstly, the Ultimate Nurse not being in her office. Secondly, losing the remote for the air conditioner after I’d just put it down.”

He did admit that the room was a little humid but he wouldn’t necessarily blame bad luck for that. It was a hot day like the weather forecast had predicted the day before and maybe it was more likely that Nagito just misplaced things often. 

He beckoned Nagito closer and tapped his own chin. In understanding, Nagito rested his head in his hands and leaned closer, tilting his chin up for a better angle. Hajime carefully brought the cotton to his face and lightly pressed it on the cut.

“I don’t think your luck is to blame for every small inconvenience you experience in your life and things like the power going out and getting mugged aren’t really based on luck. I’m sorry that these things happened to you, I really am but I just think it’s a little hard to believe from my end at least.”

Nagito looked away with his eyes, “I am the Ultimate Lucky Student though. Shouldn't a talent like that hold the expectation of constant luck?”

“I’m not sure. I wouldn’t know.”

“Do you think of luck as something only related to superstition? Because my life contradicts that every day. No matter how many four-leaf clovers I find, none of them prevent my cycle of good and bad luck. Nearly every action and possible reaction is at some point caused by my constant cycle, even things like playing Rock, Paper, Scissors or entering a lottery. Putting complete faith into my luck is the only thing I can do with complete certainty because of my status as the Ultimate Lucky Student. It’s my only absolute.”

 

Hajime leaned back. “It’s hard to do this when you’re talking.”

Nagito smiled apologetically. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll shut up now.” 

Hajime saw the antiseptic drizzle a little down his neck.  _ Too much _ , he thought.  _ Way too much _ .

“It’s fine. I think it’s interesting,” he shuffled his chair back and went to go find paper towels. “I think I’m nearly done anyway. You can keep going if you’d like.”

Nagito’s breath hitched. “Keep... talking?” 

“If you’d like.”

“Aha, I’m being blessed! Is this the good luck after the tragedy from this morning?” his breathing picked up and he looked down at his arms as they wrapped around his own chest, “Is this a taste of hope after the despair?”

“It’s basic human kindness, it’s not that deep.” 

Hajime sat back down and peeled Nagito’s arms off of himself. He leaned forward and wiped up the antiseptic from his neck. He tried no to look too embarrassed as he unconsciously cupped Nagito’s face to hold him still and brushed off the last couple of drops. He hated that the moment felt weirdly intimate, sitting across from someone and just trying to make sure they didn’t get infected. The longer he thought about it, the warmer his face got, the more he mentally cursed Nagito for losing the remote for the air conditioner. 

“A-anyway, me deciding to help you out has nothing to do with luck. Anyone would’ve helped you out if they saw you like that.”

“Even someone like Kazuichi?”

“Would you consider it pure hope to meet someone like Kazuichi?”

“He is a symbol of hope.”

“He named his YouTube account ‘xx_Motor_Boners69_xx.’ and he’s still a symbol of hope to you?”

He didn’t seem to have an answer to that. Not that specifically. 

“What was your point again?”

“Look,” Hajime took his hand off and leaned back into his seat, putting the paper towel aside, “there are people in this world who care about you. You may not know them now but treating yourself like garbage because of some luck cycle or something isn’t going to change that. I’m just doing what I think is right, no luck involved. I’m not saying everyone would have done the same but there are people who would. This is human decency at best, don’t treat it like it’s holy or anything.”

Nagito listened attentively, even if both of them knew they were still disagreeing with each other.

“You deserve to be treated the same way as everyone else. You’re not trash, you never were and you never will be. You’re actually a lot smarter than you realise, even if the things you say often don’t make sense.” Hajime plucked a bandaid from out of the box and tore off the case. “Now hold still.”

Before he could apply it, Nagito stopped him by placing his hand on Hajime’s arm.

“You... honestly believe that?” his voice was quiet and almost like a whisper. 

Hajime laughed nervously, “Well, yes. Of course I do.”

Nagito’s eyes went wide, that same goofy grin he was used to plastered his face and there were small pink tints on his cheeks. He looked like he was ready to say the same old hope speech again.

“Don’t make it weird,” Hajime said, suddenly uncomfortable.

“I’m trying,” there was less awe in him than usual, more something like appreciation than worshipping, “but thank you.”

 

Nagito didn’t take his hand off, even when the moment had clearly passed. Instead of using the moment to awkwardly ask him to move it, Hajime decided to awkwardly try to put on the bandaid despite it. He peeled off the plastic and carefully stuck one end on the left side of the wound. He then rubbed his finger along the bandaid to stick it down and cover up the cut completely. He pushed down the sticky ends again just to make sure they were properly stuck down. He lay his other hand flat underneath Nagito’s chin to hold him in place as he smoothed it all out.

Nagito cleared his throat and  _ Oh God, he felt that. _ His fingers were barely touching his patient’s throat but what little he did feel, it moved. Hajime’s brain screamed at him and he quickly shot himself back into his seat. He pressed his hand into his armpit, his lips pressed tightly together as if that would somehow make him look calmer. It didn’t, it really didn’t. Nagito’s face pretty much confirmed that as he looked directly into Hajime’s eyes, jaw slightly ajar and sat up straight. Hajime seemed to be trying to sink into his seat as he looked at the ground with held breath. It shouldn’t have even been that bad but it was the awkwardness of the silence had made him think about cupping his face or touching his neck or running his fingers over his chin or holding up his face or-

“Well-” Hajime stood up from his seat- “I think I’m pretty much done now! Your wounds are clean and covered now so we can leave.”

Nagito stared at him for a little while longer as if unable to process what exactly was happening. His eyes shifted to the windows, thinking.

He thought for too long. 

“I’ll pack up the stuff,” Hajime offered, reaching for the box of bandaids and the antiseptic.

“Oh, I’ll take the bandages then,” Nagito finally said, a bright smile already back on his face. 

Hajime noticed that his teeth were crooked, not horrifically so but just enough to be noticeable. It wasn’t ugly, the thought that crooked teeth would be was something he just believed subconsciously but seeing it now, he wondered how wrong he could be. 

 

He rubbed his thumb over the box as he turned and ambled over to the cupboards. Smooth, like it had been polished with the labels. He rubbed his fingers over the bottle. Rougher but not by much. The bottle’s plastic texture felt more cheap, the bumps and grooves on the sides giving it a sense of incompleteness or uniquity.

He reached the cupboard but idled a little longer as he compared the textures again. Something about the touch intrigued him. 

_ Maybe _ , he thought,  _ this was a metaphor for something _ . 

Like if his need to touch these two completely different textures linked by a common theme was a metaphor for his need for a real connection. Or if his fascination with touching things that are different from each other had to do with the duality he faced within.

_...  _

_ No, of course it isn’t. That’s stupid.  _

 

He finally shook his head and reached up to push the antiseptic onto the highest shelf. He forgot where he originally got the bandaids so he left them on the bottom shelf for Mikan to deal with later. He briefly felt his fingers rubbing against his thumb, now realising how rough his skin really is. It wasn’t like he had bad skin- well, in a way he did thanks to it being so dry- but rather, it was different from the skin he had just been touching a couple of seconds ago.

Though he didn’t exactly rub it the same way, Nagito’s cheek felt more smooth than he was expecting.  _ Maybe he uses cream _ , he thought. He then had to ask himself why he was lingering on this for so long.

He turned to see that Nagito was still sitting at the table, staring off into the window again. The bandages were gone. Hajime curled a brow,  _ why is he still here then? _

He sure as hell wasn’t going to ask him. You don’t ask Nagito Komaeda questions about  _ why _ he does things. That was just how things went. But, then again, he’d already asked him several questions and even indulged him in a discussion about his luck cycle he mentioned every now and again. A part of him was glad that he hadn’t left yet, as strange as it was to admit to himself.

There was a perfect light shining through the window and catching his pale skin. The sun definitely wasn’t going to set any time soon but it felt like one of those moments where it may have been more symbolic if the sun was setting. Or something. Hajime wasn’t sure where this train of thought was going. He had caught himself staring at Nagito’s face for too long though.

 

Nagito turned his head as if only just realising that Hajime was still there. His eyes went wide and he blinked rapidly. “Oh, sorry. I was spacing out.”

Hajime waved dismissively, “Nah, it’s fine. I was kinda spacing out too.”

Nagito smiles half-heartedly then turned his head to face the window again. His expression is strange, an odd mix of appreciation and joy, and worry and sadness at the same time. Whatever he was thinking about was probably being debated in his head. 

Hajime knew because he was sure that he had personally made that exact face before. He tried to remember where he had made it. He vaguely remembered staring at his T.V in his house while an ad was playing. He couldn’t remember the exact words or images but he did know it was about the opening of the new Hope’s Peak Academy. He’d gone through several things, namely what Nagito would describe as hope kicking off the rest of the emotional rollercoaster.

He felt hope, then he paused. Then, while he was still stuck on joy, he managed to let the doubt creep in and that doubt settled in and became worry. Then it was self-targeted anger- the kind that feels like the worst end possible of self-loathing where the brain uses second-person pronouns to refer to itself- then guilt, then sadness.

All of these things, he saw reflected on Nagito’s face but for what, he had absolutely no idea. He could probably guess though.

Nagito was flexing his fingers on his bandaged hand, stroking the material with his other. He guessed that it was somehow linked to Hajime’s treatment or conversation.

Nagito then rubbed his knuckles along his throat and scratched his cheek. Maybe it had something to do with the previous contact.

 

Hajime had to put his theorising on halt when Nagito spun his chair to face him.

“Thank you,” he smiled, not quite genuinely happy but grateful.   


“No problem,” Hajime shrugged.

Nagito stood from his chair and took a step toward him. He opened his mouth to speak but right at that second, his foot caught onto the baseball bat which had now been rolled from under the desk. 

“Wha-”

Nagito rolled forward. He flailed his arms about in panic. He kept going with both feet on it, rolling and rolling. Hajime froze in place as he could only watch. Rolling closer and closer until-

 

The bat stopped at Hajime’s feet. Nagito, however, kept moving. He collided with Hajime’s chest and the two of them toppled back. Hajime hit the ground with a loud THUD, his back flat on the cold floor. 

Nagito wasn’t heavy but he did cover Hajime’s height and then some. Nagito’s chest was practically pressing down on his collarbone, his jaw ended at Hajime’s ear. He could tell because he was breathing on it. Hajime held his breath, mainly because it had been completely knocked out of him. 

Nagito stayed still, he assumed purely out of shock but the shock couldn’t have possibly lasted the whole ten seconds they were on the ground. Nagito swallowed, slowly shifting his bandaged hand around on the ground just like he did before. He didn’t find any sharp rocks this time, thank God. He pushed himself off and leaned back to sit up. He blinked several times.

 

“I-I am so sorry, please forgive me and my terrible luck!” he apologised.

Hajime let out a breath, resting his hand on his forehead and dragging his fingers down his face. He could only laugh. He wasn’t sure why but the ridiculousness made him laugh hard enough to curl his shoulders in with each one.

“Aha, this is pretty funny,” Nagito sighed, a couple of chuckles escaping him too. 

Hajime finally slowed, pulling himself together with a goofy grin. “It’s okay,” he said.

Nagito’s eyelids wrinkled into a genuine smile, teeth were only slightly apart as he let out the last couple of  _ hahaha _ s. His face was soft, like his eyelashes were gently beating butterfly wings and his cheeks were as round as a chipmunk’s as he tried to hold back more childish giggles.

His eyes weren’t like emeralds, perhaps that’s what made them feel more comfortable to stare into. More like the kind of eyes that remind people of grass on a warm, spring afternoon field or perhaps the pale leaves of a tree in someone’s yard around the time that summer comes around. The eyes someone could get lost in, the kind that wouldn’t belong to someone like Nagito Komaeda. 

 

But they did. And gosh, did Hajime like to stare.

 

Nagito’s smile had loosened as he broke the eye-contact, slowly drifting his eyes down Hajime’s body just as his lips had closed over his teeth and fallen into something else. Something more... surprised.

His eyes stopped when they reached his own legs, a sharp  _ Oh  _ came exclaiming from his lips. It was only now that the two of them had noticed that Nagito was straddling Hajime’s waist. It never occurred to either one that staring intensely into each other’s eyes would be weird but somehow it was worse knowing one was on top of the other. In a nurse’s office.

Hajime wished he hadn’t noticed because now Nagito was scrambling to stand up. He wasn’t thinking perversely, the contact was just appreciated. It had been a while since he had been flushed bright red from anything other than a sunburn or flushed against something human or soft. Not dirty, just close. He sat up from the floor slowly. Nagito offered his good hand to him, the nervousness not quite shaken off but the smile still warm and inviting. He was right in front of the window, the light practically making his face glow in the day’s calm beauty and through his pale, unkempt hair. 

The first thought through Hajime’s mind was  _ Fuck you for being so pretty. _

 

He took Nagito’s hand. He misjudged how strongly Nagito would tug him up, mainly that he expected him to be weaker. He pulled too hard and as he stood, fell right onto his chest again. He was less than an inch shorter and their faces were too close. 

_ This couldn’t have been an accident, _ he thought,  _ he’s smiling. _

“Thank you,” Hajime said, exhaling onto his face. He then covered his mouth in embarrassment, now feeling the awkwardness of staring into his eyes for too long.

Nagito chuckled with a small smirk, “I should be the one thanking you.”

“What makes you say that?”

He brought his bandaged hand to his own face, tilting his head slightly into it. “You’ve brought out the best of my luck after a morning full of misfortune. From the bottom of my heart, I cannot thank you enough.” He took his hand away from his face and let it trail to Hajime’s fingers. “You took in trash like me in sickness and health and... you even listened to me talk about things that bore you. How lucky I am to know someone like you.”

Hajime could not put into words how tight his chest had become or how sore his face was getting from holding everything he could back or how close he wanted to get. He couldn’t express it, so he just quipped instead.

“I thought I told you I don’t believe in your luck _. In sickness and health _ , tch. Like I said, it’s basic human decency. Maybe you should’ve been listening instead.”

“I was listening, I just don’t agree with you.”

“Then maybe you’ll agree if you listen more closely. If you’ll allow me.”

Hajime was feeling adventurous. He brought one hand to Nagito’s and intertwined their fingers, raising them just beside their chests. He brought the other to Nagito’s lower back, loosely wrapping his arm around to pull him closer. They were practically breathing each other’s air. 

 

Neither could help but grin. Nagito’s eyelashes fluttered down as a sigh escaped him.

“Alright then, I’m listening.”

Hajime breathed a laugh. Both of them could feel this coming but the teasing would test how resilient they would be.

“How do I know for certain?” he played with the wrinkles in his coat.

“How about I say everything back to you, would that convince you?”

“Perhaps, it might.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Nagito had been incredibly patient up until now. His fingers had been tapping along Hajime’s, eager to finally get to this part.

Hajime hummed in amusement. He could just stay like this for forever if his forehead wasn’t now resting on a pretty boy’s. He was strange, he was sometimes impossible. But he’d be damned if he didn’t admit to himself that those pretty lips needed someone else’s on them.

He was slow, gently tilting his head and letting his eyelids shut only when he knew for certain that they wouldn’t bump into each other. 

They were soft, just like he’d expected. He’d noticed the other would sometimes bite his lips in nervousness or when someone told him to shut up but it was gentle. A soft, pretty, gentle kiss he’d always wanted to feel on his average lips, his average skin just around his face in general. It was hard to see how someone like Nagito could possibly not like himself with a look like his. He would have to make a habit to compliment him more so he could feel the way he did in that special moment.

 

Hajime moved away, dragging his front lip down on Nagito’s bottom as they separated. He couldn’t miss the way his white eyelashes danced on his face as he looked down, then to Hajime’s eyes.

“So, do you see?”

Nagito tilted his head, “See what?”

He wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. “Were you even listening?”

“Maybe,” a smirk played back onto his face, “what if I said I wasn’t? Would you say it again?”

 

Hajime rested his head onto Nagito’s shoulder, laughing onto his skin through clenched teeth. He couldn’t pull this act together for much longer. The snarky behaviour was starting to melt away, it was too good for him to handle. In all of his dreams, none of them had him trying to hold back laughter during moments like these. It was always all or nothing with the conversations. All snark or no words at all, a quick tongue or like there were none left that could speak.

 

“ _ Oh my God, you asshole _ ,” he said, muffled.

Nagito brought his free arm to Hajime’s neck and felt through his hair. His hand was cool to the touch but not unwelcome. The more they touched, the better it felt. Starved for all the touch they could ever need, it should’ve felt sadder than it was but all that went through Hajime’s mind was how much he wanted to pull him closer.

He looked up from Nagito’s neck, a stupid smile still intact.

“Do I have permission to make it weird?” Nagito asked.

Hajime considered it for a moment, jokingly. He would’ve said yes regardless.

“I am in love with the hope you have inside of you. It shines ever brighter with you than anyone else I have met.”

“I think you may be confusing some words there.”

“Ah, you’re right,” Nagito traced his fingers around Hajime’s hair, “then what I meant was... I am in love with the  _ Hajime  _ inside of you. It shines ever brighter with you than anyone else I have ever met.”

He grinned, “I would hope so.”

“I would _ Hajime _ so.”

“That’ll do.”

Hajime pressed his lips against Nagito’s again. He leaned more into it, stepping one leg between the other two but not much more beyond that. 

 

Once they pulled apart, they remembered that they were in a nurse’s office when they probably shouldn’t have been. Hajime lead them out of the door and away to their classes. Nagito placed a kiss to Hajime’s cheek as he turned to head into his classroom, he started rubbing his bandaid as he entered the room.

Hajime walked to his own with a smile still on his face. He swung his legs under his seat, he drifted off during lectures, he touched his cheeks more often than he usually would and when anyone asked, he said he was just thinking about something funny he saw on his phone.

When they saw each other again, at least none of the snarkiness had quite faded away. Playful teases as he trailed his fingers along Nagito’s bandages and skin.

_ Human decency, my ass. _


End file.
